Play on Benazir by Assam's mobile theatre

Guwahati, Aug 12: A charismatic leader whose story needs to be told, say Assam's framed mobile theatre group 'Abahan'. A play, spanning from her birth to her student days at Oxford University to her role in Pakistan politics to meeting her end to militant bullets, will be staged by the state's leading mobile theatre group 'Abahan'.

Playwright Dhruba Jyoti Sharma, who has scripted and directed the play with Rajesh Bhuyan, said, ''Benazir was a magnetic character in Pakistani politics, who attracted the world's attention. The play on her life would also attract similar attention here.'' He claimed that his play, titled simply 'Benazir Bhutto' as the name needs no other introduction, is the first dramatisation attempt of Bhutto's life.

''There is no form of cinematic documentation or drama on Bhutto's life and an Assamese play is going to earn that distinction,'' Mr Sharma added.

He informed that he sketched Bhutto's life based on information available in newspapers and the internet.

Hyped as the mega play of the year, the Abahan theatre group producers have spared no expenses to replicate the larger-than-life story of Bhutto.

A single song sequence for the play has cost Rs four lakh. There are nine sets being used and each has cost almost Rs 30,000, the playwright informed.

He added, ''The sets have to match the grand style of Bhutto and her family. Moreover, we had to replicate Oxford and her death scene.'' Costumes were tailored in Mumbai while a make-up artist from the South would lend Angurlata, who is playing Bhutto, the exact look.

The play would be staged from August 22 and is betted to be the most successful play this season. The mobile theatres roll out in mid-August and wind up the season by April.

Assam's mobile theatre is known for its exposition of themes that require technical expertise of the highest nature. Bollywood and Hollywood mega ventures, like Titanic, Jurrasic Park and Sholay, have been successfully enacted on stage here.

UNI